Apparatus for removing ink from printing-press inking rolls



Sept. 7 1926. v

J. B. HILL APPARATUS FOR REMOVING INK FROM PRINTING PhESS INKING ROLLSFiled Feb. 18 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig] fizz/enfor Sept. 7 1926.1,598,819

J. B. HILL APPARATUS FOR REMOVING INK FROM PRINTING PRESS INKING ROLLSFiled Feb. 18, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 7, 1926.

v i UNITED STATE SII'PATENTI OFFICE.

JOSEPH LB. HILL, or nus MOINES, IOWA.

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING in]; radar PRINTING-PRESS INKING norms.

Application filed February At the present time printing presses are atthe present time, after a certain period" of use, or when the ink beingused is changed from one coloror shadeto another,

for the operator to remove all of the inking rolls from the press andwash them in an ink removing substance such for instance as gasoline,and then after they are cleaned, replace them before a-pp'lyingjres'hink. This process is commonly referred to as washing up the inkingrolls. a l

The object of my invention is to provide a device of simple, durable andinexpensive construction that may be used in the nature ofan attachmentfor printing presses, and which, when moved to position for operationrelative to one of the metal rolls in the series, very quickly andthoroughlyremove from all of the rolls in the series all of theink onevery roll which is capable of being transmitted from one roll "toanother during their rotation when'in engagement. In other words,'towash up the inking rolls without removing them from the press ,orapplying any cleaning composition such as gasoline.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the attachment, and in the method employed inwashing up the inking rolls, whereby the objects contemplated areattained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim,and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a vertical, longitudinal, sectional view of' a part of aprinting press showing the various inking rollsv for distributing inkand applying it to the type.

Figure 2 shows a detail rear elevation of a part of the press frame andone of .the ink distributing rolls-and my improved ink removing deviceapplied thereto.

Figure 3 shows a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2. I

Figure 4. shows an enlarged sectional View on the line 4 -4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 shows an isometric view illustrating the ink removing blade. 2

Figure 6 shows an enlarged, detail, sec tional view of a series ofinking rolls and an ink removing blade applied to one of "the lug 22 andthrough one.of

1s, 1925; Serial No. 10,068.

them for illustrating diagrammatically the method employed in removingthe ink..

' Figure 7 shows an enlarged, sectional,

isometric view of the ink removing blade.

Figure 8 shows a rear elevation of a part of the inking press frame andportions of the ink distributing rollers and a modified and Figure 9showsa sectional view on the line 99 of Figure 8.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have" used the referencenumeral 10 to indicate generally the frame of the printing press. 11indicates a cylinder on which the type or plates to be printed from aremounted.

As illustrated in Figure lOthere'are two independent series of inkdistributing rolls, each of which comprises a series of smooth facedcylindrical metal rolls 12 and a series of rolls l8which are made ofyieldable composition material. In each series these rolls are soarranged that the composition rolls are always in contact only with oneor more metal rolls, which arrangement is that now generally employed inprinting presses.

For removing theink from each series of rolls, I have provided a deviceconsisting of a collar 14 for each side of the press, de-

form of ink removing blade applied thereto;

signed to be passed over one of the bearing i bosses 15 for one of themetal rolls. This collar is secured in any position of adjustmentdesired by a set screw 16. 'P'rvoted to the collar 14; is a curved arm17. These arms are connected by bolts 18 to a fiat plate 19 that extendsacross the printing press adjacent to themetal roll upon which thebearing of the collar 14: is mounted. i

This plate 19 is provided at one end With a lug 20 formed withtwo. ormore openings I 21, and the collar 1 1 is formed with a lug 22 providedwith an opening. A pin 23 isjl 0 provided to extend through the openingin the openings 21, to thereby support the plate 19 in differentadjusted positions relative to the metal roll with which it isassociated.

" Mounted on top of the plate 19 is a blade '24: having, one edgeadjacent to the roll sharpened, as shown in Figure 7. This blade asshownin Figure 5, is preferably formed with a series of notches 26 onitsedge oppositefrom the sharpened edge,

audit is held to the plate 19 by a plate 27 on top. of Y the blade 24,and connected with the plate have provided; a series of set screws 29seated in screw threaded openings formed partially in each of the plates19v and 27 with their inner ends in engagement with the outer edge ofthe blade 24, as clearly shown in Figure 7 This adjustment of the blade24 is, of course, made when the set screws 28 are not thoroughlytightened, and

after the adjustment is made, these screws 28 are tightened to lock theblade 24 in position.

Mounted upon the arms 17 are the straps 30 which supporta trough 31which is suspe'nded'by said straps toposition directly under the rearlower edge of the plate 19, 20

so that any ink removed from the rolls by the blade 24 will flowlaterally in both directions from the blade 24 and along the upper edgeof the plate 27 until it reaches the ends of-the blade 24, whereupon itwill drop into the trough 31.

In the modified form illustrated in Figures 8 and 9, I have shown acollar 32 ad- 'ustably and detachably mounted upon'the aring 15 of oneof the rolls, and adjustably held in place by a set screw 33. Thiscollar has projecting downwardl and rearwardly from it an arm 34,- and Iat the lower rear ends of said arm is a metal ink roll 35; When this arm34 is in the position shown in Figure 9, ink is distributed from thecomposition roll 13 to the metal roll 35, but when the arm 34 iselevatc'd, as shown by dotted lines in Figure 9, then the metal roll 35is out of contact with the composition roll 13.

Formed on the arm 34 is' a forwardly-extending lug 36 in which. ispivoted an arm 37 which is extended downwardly and rearwardly andsupports an ink removing blade 38. This arm 37 is also provided with alug 39 having openings in it to receive-a pin 40 by which the lade maybe supported either in contact with the roll '35 or, as shown by dottedlines in Figure 9,'out of contact with the roll 35.

In Figure6 of the drawings'I have illus- I trated diagrammatically aseries of ink-distributing rolls and an ink cleaning blade in operativeposition relative to one of the meta rolls of the series. In this figurethere is shown on each of the three rolls a coatin 41 of ink, but on theroll 12, with which the blade 24 is in contact, the ink is shown asremoved rom that portion of the roll which has passed the blade 24 andnot yet reached a-position of contact with its mating composition roll13, illustrating the method by which the ink from all of the rolls inthe series is transmitted to the metal roll from which it is removed bythe blade.

a clean surface, then the ink is gradually supported In practical use,and assuming that an ordinary printing press is equipped with myimproved ink washing up device, and assuming further that the operatordesires to change from, say black ink to, say for instance, orangecolored ink, then, and in that event, the operator simply adjusts theblade 24 into position in contact with the adjacent metal roll. He thenoperates the inking press in the usual manner, thus rapidly revolvingall of the inking rolls. The blade removes all of the'ink from the metalroll with which it is in contact, as illustrated in Figure 6. .Then theroll which is in contact with the metal roll to'which the blade isapplied is, durin the further revolution of the press, continuouslytransmitted to the metal roll that is being continuously cleaned by theblade. Obviously, if there was no blade nor a type cylinder to receivethe ink, the ink would be constantly transmitted back and forth from oneroll of the series to the other. ,However, so long as there is a roll inthe series which has wholly or partially transmitted from all of therolls that contain ink to the roll which contains no ink. Hence, in avery short period of time during the rapid revolution of the inkingrolls, all of the rolls in the series have transmitted to the roll,which is engaged by the blade, every particle ofisuch ink which iscapable of being thus transmitted from one roll to the other, and whenthis has been done, then the press is washed up and in condition to.receive a new lot ofink.

In practice, and after the press has been washed up as just described,it is true that some of the rolls have not been so thoroughly cleaned asto remove all of the ink color, but in practice I have found that, afterthus washing up the rolls when. they previously have been operated withblack ink, I can apply a new quantitiy of ink of, say for instance,orange color and immediately commence printing without transmitting anyof the black ink to the printing cylinders.

It is, of course, necessar that the blade 2449c quite sharp and beadjusted with great accuracy relative to its co-operating metal roll,and by providing the set screws 29 for making this adjustment, 1 havefound that it .is not difiicult to adjust the blade and maintain it inits adjusted position.

'With the modified form illustrated in Figures '8 and,9, the entiredevice may be readily, quickly and easily applied to or removed from aprintingpress, and the blade may be left in a properly adjusted positionat all times relative to the metal-roll, so that when it is desired towash up the press, it is only necessary for the operator to adjust thedevice so that the metal roll engages the corresponding compositionroll,

so that the operator need not. pay any attention to the adjustment ofthe blade relative to the roll.

I am aware that heretofore in the printing art ink has been removed from.cylindrical surfaces by means of a sharpened blade, and I do not desireto be understood as herein claiming that process broadly. I havediscovered by repeated experiments that where there is a series ofalternate metal and composition inking rolls all in contact, ink can beremoved from all of the rolls in theseries by constantly keeping aportion of the surface of one of the metal rolls clean by the use of ablade, and then rapidly revolving all of the rolls in the series andconstantly transmitting from the entire surfaces of all of the rolls allof such'ink as is capable of being thus transmitted to the clean portionof the metal roll, which cooperates With the blade, so that after a fewhundred revolutions of the series of inking rolls, they have beensufficiently washed up to receive fresh ink, or ink of a differentcolor. v

I am aware that heretofore attempt has been made toremove ink from softor composition rolls by means of a scraper blade arranged approximatelyradially with relation to the roll from which the ink is to be removed./Vith such devices, however, it would be impracticable to'cut the inkfrom the rolls in the manner contemplated by me, for if the knife bladewere'to set that it could actually out the ink from the roll, it wouldalso cut the soft or composition roll.

vI am aware also that heretofore cutting blades or so-called doctorshave been applied to printing cylinders for the purpose of removing inkfrom the surfaces of said cylinders without removing it from thedepressions therein from which the ink is applied to the surfaces to beprinted upon,

but in such devices there are no soft or composition rolls fortransmitting the ink from the printing cylinder to a hard surfacedcylinder from which it can be cut by a knife.

I claim as my invention:

In a print-ingpress of the character described, the combination of aprinting cylinder, an inking roll, and a number of ink distributing"rolls between the inking roll and the printing cylinder arranged .incontact with each other, some of them having be cut as distinguished{from being scraped from the roll, and all of the ink upon the inkingroll will be transmitted by the soft or composition rolls to theadjacent metal rolls and finally removed from the metal roll to whichthe blade is applied.

Des Moines, Iowa, January 13, 1925.

JOSEPH B. HILL.

